1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to anchor clips and to a string of such clips which are of the type that are stamped, punched and cut from an elongate strip of sheet metal stock in an end-to-end arrangement and which are applied to the wooden rails of furniture frames, such as opposite rails of the seat or back rest of a chair, for anchoring the end sections of sinuous or undulating cushion-supporting springs that extend between opposite rails.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR .sctn..sctn.1.97-1.99.
Heretofore, it has been proposed to manufacture a string of anchor clips in a side-by-side arrangement from a length or strip of flat sheet metal clip-forming stock by passing the strip of stock through the working area of a punch press where various sequential punching, slitting, severing, bending, stamping and other operations are performed upon the strip of metal stock to produce a string of anchor clips arranged and connected side-by-side, the adjacent clips being connected to each other by a swaged web or webbing of metal between and connecting adjacent sides of adjacent clips. This string of clips is described in more detail in the Pearson U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,523, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Another type of clip having a generally U-shape is disclosed in the Oddy U.K. Patent Application No. GB 2 023 216. This patent teaches a plurality of inverted U-shaped clips which are arranged adjacent to each other with the bight of each U defining a generally semi-cylindrical head or crown, each having at least one notch therein aligned with a notch on an adjacent clip and an elongate spine of a frangible material is pressed into the aligned notches.
In applicant's earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,821, there is disclosed a string of inverted U-shaped clips where the side edges of the head or bight portion of each clip are pressed toward each other to cause the metal of the bight portion to be crimped against an elongate flexible member received loosely in a trough defined by aligned notches in the bight or head portions of the clips in the string of clips that are arranged in a row.
Anchor clips of the type which are described herein are disclosed in the Frazier et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,998.